Chapter 7
7
R ex spent the first night in his mother’s house tossing and turning. Every time he got up to use the bathroom, he hoped he’d run into Tilly, but it never happened.
And he couldn’t bring himself to sneak into her room. Things had gotten too weird. He needed to spend some time alone with her, without the premise of making his mother happy. So, with that in mind, he’d borrowed a buddy’s sailboat, and he and Tilly would spend the day on the Chesapeake before being put on display at the club during an annual Tuesday evening couples’ night, golf and all.
“You and boats,” she said as he stepped on the twenty-foot day sailor. “You should have joined the Navy.”
“Their firefighter program isn’t as intense as the Air Force.”
“Perhaps, but their white dress uniforms are smoking hot.”
“You women love a man in uniform.” He untied the boat after starting the single engine. It wasn’t the windiest day, and he probably wouldn’t even put the sail up. Hell, floating and drinking a few beers seemed more like a plan than anything else.
She’d removed her T-shirt, showing off a tiny bikini top. The sexy miniskirt made the outfit complete. Talk about smoking hot. She burned his lips every time he kissed her. She never understood how sexy she was, even now. She might carry herself with confidence, but that came because she knew she was smart. In the looks department, she always saw herself as just another pretty girl, nothing special.
She was special in every way.
“How was breakfast with your mother?” she asked, leaning back on the bench on the starboard side.
“She was disappointed you didn’t join us.”
“I went to yoga class, like I do every day I’m at her house.” She covered her eyes with her hand, glancing in his direction. “Did she bring up the sleeping arrangements?”
“And then some.” He shook his head. “My mom was always direct. Hell, she made me blush giving me the sex talk, trying to explain why I should listen to what a woman wanted and if that wasn’t bad enough, she gave a few graphic details about how to please a woman. I wanted to crawl in a hole and die.”
“Well, you must have listened to her at some point, because you always knew what I wanted and from the start, you knew what to do.”
He laughed. “You never gave me a choice. Always so demanding in bed.”
“I most certainly am not.”
“Whatever you say.” He steered the boat out into the Chesapeake, enjoying the hot summer sun beating down on his face. Not much different than being at home, except for Tilly, only he felt as if she belonged with him out on the boat.
That was a crazy thought.
He pulled the throttle back, slowing the boat into an alcove they used to hang out in back in the day. “Let’s relax here.” He shut the engine down and tossed over the anchor, securing the boat between a half dozen other boats enjoying the day.
“Wow, this brings back memories,” she said as she smoothed out two towels. “We had a lot of fun here.”
“We sure did.” He sat down next to her and opened the cooler. “Look at all the kids in these boats.”
“I know. We look like a couple of old farts.”
“We are old farts.” He twisted off the cap from a beer and handed it to her.
“Why’d you bring me here?”
“It seemed like a nice place to spend the day and talk without being scrutinized by everyone our parents know.” He leaned back on his elbows.
“Speaking of parents, my mother texted, and she’s bringing her new boyfriend to the club tonight.”
“Great. She never liked me much.” Before the affair, he’d gotten along with Mr. Bettencourt well enough, but Mrs. Bettencourt terrified him. She’d always give him this narrowed expression when he’d come pick up Tilly for a date.
Tilly sipped her beer, lifting her head toward the sun. “It wasn’t you she didn’t like. It was what she read in my diary that pissed her off.”
“Good Lord.” He shook his head. “Do I even want to know?”
“Let’s just say that she read about our first time and was mortified.”
“I never want to see your mother again,” he muttered.
“She was impressed that you took care of all the precautions and called me the next morning to make sure I was okay. She did know you treated me well. And if it makes you feel any better, she doesn’t like anyone whose penis I’ve touched.”
He raised his longneck. “I don’t want to hear about that. I don’t like those pricks either.”
She clanked her bottle with his. “I can’t say I’m thrilled to know about all the skanky bitches you’ve had either.”
The strange turn of events his life had taken over the last twenty-four hours felt more like the Twilight Zone than reality. “So, we’re both jealous and miserable, relationship-wise, and yet we’re more awkward with each other than that pimply teenaged boy over there trying to feel up the blonde who seems so into him, only he’s too hormonal to know it.”
“Oh my God. That’s almost exactly what I said to you when I first kissed you.”
“My mother always liked how aggressive you were, which still weirds me out.”
Tilly tilted her head and peered over her sunglasses.
“Well, you were aggressive,” he said.
“Only in response to you,” she whispered, brushing her hair from her face. “I’m sorry about your mom. She’s a good woman. I didn’t make things easy on her and my dad when we first moved in. But she’s been good to me and I wish things were different.”
“So do I,” he admitted. His mother’s illness had been another reason that had kept him up the night before.
His mom had put on a brave front, but after talking with her doctor this morning, Rex had a much better idea of how sick she really was. She had days, or at best, a couple of weeks before her organs went into failure. The cancer had eaten up all of her insides, leaving her with nothing but sickness.
He’d called Arthur right after and begged him to find replacements for his shifts. Timothy at the Aegis Network had told him not to worry. No assignments would be sent his way until he was ready.
“What are you thinking about?”
“I’ve missed out on so much. My sister is still mad as hell at me, but says she’ll be coming over tomorrow night for dinner. My brother and his family are coming too, which will be nice.”
“That will really make your mother happy. I’ll make sure I have plans.”
“Not a good idea. My mom wants you there. I actually think she believes we’ll make the announcement of our engagement.”
“That would give my mother a heart attack.”
“Doesn’t she know this is all fake dating? That we are just pretending for the sake of my mother?”
Tilly shook her head, biting down on her lower lip. Never a good sign.
“Wonderful. So, she thinks we’re getting back together as well.”
“I’d be lying if I didn’t say she’s hopeful. She thinks my dating record has gone downhill since you, which is funny, considering she used to tell me I could do better than you.”
He winked. “Boyfriends don’t come any better than me.”
She cocked her head. “You’re a conceited ass.” She slapped his shoulder, letting her fingers linger over their shared tattoo.
“Oh, for fuck’s sake. I can’t take it anymore.” He pointed to the kids on the boat next to them. The young boy kept trying to get closer to the girl on the deck. “We need to give that boy a hand.”
“How do you suppose we do that?”
Rex whistled. “Hey. Do either of you have a cell phone we can use? Ours are dead, and I need to let a buddy of ours know where we are.”
Tilly leaned closer. “What are you doing?” she whispered.
“Helping a brother out.”
“Sure,” the boy yelled.
“This is going to be fun.” Rex dove into the water, swimming toward the kid’s boat. As a kid, boy, he had no game. If it wasn’t for Tilly and her ability to sweep him off his feet, he would have never asked her out.
Now all he had to do was put some helpful notes about dating on the teenager’s phone, get the kid’s number, and shoot him some texts while he watched and hopefully the poor boy wouldn’t crash and burn.
“I really appreciate this,” Rex said as he pushed himself up, sitting on the stern swim platform, taking the phone the boy offered. “Your phone or hers?”
“Mine,” the boy said, glancing over his shoulder.
The young girl lay on the bow with earbuds, her feet tapping away. First Rex punched in his number, sending himself a text, then he opened the notes tab on the phone.
You want help with making a move on the girl? Just watch and follow what I do.
He handed the phone back, with the notes facing the boy who squinted and gave Rex a funny look. He realized he must have really looked like a creeper, but hopefully the boy would take notice.
Rex dove back into the water. The cool feel of the ocean rolled over his skin. He eyed Tilly, who sat, hugging her knees, smiling.
God, what a fool he’d been for twelve fucking years.
“Seriously, what did you do?” Tilly asked, handing him a towel.
“I told him to follow exactly what I do, so whatever you do, don’t hit me and when I lean in to kiss you, make it look good.”
“I don’t think I can do that. I mean, you’re such a terrible kisser.” She rolled her eyes.
He smiled, but what he really wanted to do was draw her in by her hips and plant a wet one on her right now, but he’d have to wait.
They sat on the bow, cross-legged, watching the young couple, waiting for the right moment, which came when the girl sat up.
Rex noticed the kid glancing his way, so he raised a hand, brushing a piece of hair from Tilly’s face, dropping his finger to her shoulder and gliding it across her skin.
“Wow, the boy’s mimicking you.”
“Good,” he whispered, sliding his finger back up, doing a little circle on the top of her shoulder. “Too bad the kid can’t hear what I’m about to whisper in your ear.” He leaned in, feeling the warmth of her skin against his lips. “You’re more beautiful than the sun’s rays dancing over the water.”
“Good line,” she said.
He kissed her cheek. “You’re making my heart melt.”
“Oh, look, he just did what you did and… oh, wow, she’s aggressive.”
“What’s she doing?”
“This.” Tilly wrapped her arms around him, smacking her mouth against his while her tongue swirled around, making him dizzy with desire.
“My job here is done.” He leaned back on his hands, stretching his legs. The young couple across from them continued to kiss for a little while longer, then giggled and laughed and kissed some more.
“I would have never thought to do that,” she said.
“What? Kiss me?”
She tilted her head. “You know what I meant.”
He nodded. “But you’re thinking about kissing me now.”
“That one beer must have gone straight to your head.”
He lay on his back, staring up at her. “Maybe, but I’m hoping after our date tonight, I’ll get to feel you up like I did the night of the end of the summer fireworks.”
She slapped his arm. “You’re impossible.”
“I know.” He closed his eyes, letting the rocking of the boat gently lull him. If this boat had a bed, he’d be leading her to the cuddy and using his best moves to get her to sleep with him again.
His heart wasn’t melting anymore.
No. His heart burned with the need to be with her again.
To love her.
It was crazy. He didn’t know if it was being back and the nostalgia of it all.
Or if it was real.
But he wanted to find out.
“You’re a good man,” she whispered.
He blinked open an eye as she spread out her blanket.
She lay on her stomach, propped up on her elbows, staring off into the bay. There were many days and nights he’d thought about her and what she might be doing. Or what it might be like to be with her again.
But they were fleeting thoughts. Memories of a time he couldn’t allow himself to fully enjoy because he was too much of an asshole.
“If that were true, I would have come home a long time ago.”
She brushed her warm lips over his shoulder. “Don’t let guilt start filling up your heart. Let’s get through this these next few weeks of making your mom happy and healing all these wounds. After that, we can all walk away knowing we did right by her and maybe we can be friends.”
Friends.
He wasn’t sure that was going to be enough.